Bring back...TY's original Beanie Babies

This year will see the return of toy icons Stretch Armstrong, View-Master and Teletubbies to shelves. This week, while we're feeling all nostalgic, the ToyNews team is making pleas to the industry to bring back some other classics. Next, Jade Burke takes a look back at TY’s lovable, huggable Beanie Babies.

While young boys may have revelled in playing with their gruesome Boglins toys and creepy boardgames, when I was younger I preferred to keep myself busy with the company of stuffed animals.

I was around eight-years-old when my obsession for TY Beanie Babies begun, and soon enough I had a collection that could rival some of the local toy stores.

When I was a kid, I remember waiting eagerly for the weekend to arrive, where I hoped I would be able to boost my collection with a familiar trip to buy a TY toy.

TY Beanie Babies first launched in 1993, where only nine were first available, including Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Brownie the Bear, Patti the Platypus, Legs the Frog, Chocolate the Moose, Pinchers the Lobster, Splash the Whale and Squealer the Pig, (I always had my eye on Spot).

Each Beanie came with its very own heart-shaped identification tag, informing owners the name and date of birth of their toy, along with a short poem dedicated to the Beanie.

To this day, I still have bags full of the Beanie toys; with Rufus, Poopsie, Midnight and Fancy (pictured above) making up just some of my collection. And despite my painstaking efforts to maintain their TY tags, I have sadly lost some to the abyss that is my toy cupboard.

Despite the toys' popularity, fans of TY Beanies can no longer get their hands on the toys filled with beans, as the firm announced the retirement of all Beanie Babies in 1999.

Since then TY has tried to introduce a new line of Beanies. For example, in 2008 a new version of Beanie Babies called Beanie Babies 2.0 was released, and a year later a series of plush toys known as Beanie Boos hit the shelves.

Known for their oversized eyes and unusually large heads, Beanie Boos are only partially filed with beans unlike the original toys from TY. To me, these new plush characters have lost their bean-appeal, which the original Beanie Babies boasted so brilliantly.

Now I would like nothing more than to see these Beanie Babies return to shelves in their original form, so all us fans can continue building our collection of all things beans.

This year will see the return of toy icons Stretch Armstrong, View-Master and Teletubbies to shelves. This week, while we're feeling all nostalgic, the ToyNews team is making pleas to the industry to bring back some other classics. First up, it's Billy Langsworthy and spooky board game Atmosfear.

This year will see the return of toy icons Stretch Armstrong, View-Master and Teletubbies to shelves. This week, while we're feeling all nostalgic, the ToyNews team is making pleas to the industry to bring back some other classics. Next up, Robert Hutchins discusses his love of Boglins.

‘While other magnetic tile toys might look and feel like Magformers, they certainly don't meet our commitment to longevity, quality and safety as a leading brand and the new artwork will help to communicate that’, says Magformers.